Compilations, vol 1
by Fruipit
Summary: "It wasn't fear of falling. She was afraid that there would be no one to catch her. After all, there never had been before..." Five short drabbles as a result of me being horrifically bored. Also, my music is depressing. Enjoy!


_The point of this was to do some random drabble work. Essentially, I put my iTunes on shuffle and wrote a drabble about whatever song came on. The trick was that I only had until the end of the song to finish it. These five are only a few of the ones I attempted; these ones I actually managed to finish, though._Between Two Lungs _is my favourite one, just so you know ^^" I don't even know what happened with _Fidelity...

* * *

_Falling - Florence + The Machine_

She did not deserve anything more than she had. She didn't deserve anything less. Perhaps she _did_ deserve the wonderfully floral life, same as Katara, her happiness always blooming, but Toph never allowed herself any wandering thoughts. Wandering thoughts eventually led back to _him_, and she would not allow that. Not when she had more important things, such as a daughter who needed her, a city that had to have her. She couldn't listen to her heart when her head was so much more important.

But when she couldn't handle it anymore and she went for a drink, the memories, feelings, _sadness_ would always come back. She wanted what she could not have, and though Toph refused to allow herself to dwell on it, she had always excelled at breaking the rules.

You see, Toph had never been afraid of flying; of breaking free, physically, emotionally, metaphorically. Falling was more of a minor nuisance, because it wasn't always her own doing. When she was falling, there was nothing she could do; everything was beyond her control. There was a peaceful acceptance that came with it, before the fear sank in. It wasn't fear of flying, though. It wasn't fear of falling. She was afraid that there would be no one to catch her. After all, there never had been before.

* * *

_Fidelity - Regina Spektor_

Toph never realised the meaning of 'love' until it actually applied to her; rather late in her life, unsurprisingly. Feircely protective of her heart, she had never allowed anyone to get close enough to her to steal it away. It was curious that the one person who managed to do it didn't sneak in. They didn't use trickery or deceit. They simply walked into her life and waited until the right moment when they could just pluck it and take it.

She would have been proud of Aang for having mastered neutral jing, except she doubted it was on purpose and, well, _he had her heart_.

After drinking several sake shots, beating a few head in, and passing out drunk on her couch, she had to accept the fact that perhaps she maybe liked him just a teensy weensy bit. After that solemn expression to herself, she couldn't help but be reminded of him, her, _them_ at any and all hours of the day (and night).

Too bad he had such strong beliefs; Toph would never be able to sway his faithfulness to Katara, even if she wanted to.

* * *

_Zombie - The Cranberries_

There was no way she could have helped it, but even as Toph ran through the burning embers of her home, she couldn't help the fear and guilt and _blame_ wracking her body in the form of dry sobs that burnt her throat far worse than any smoke. Even as she collapsed in the middle of the garden, the cries still echoing in her mind; cries of pain and anguish and loss, she wondered how much of a right she had to shed tears; it was only when Aang forced her head into his chest and held her close that she realised she had much of a right as anyone.

She shed tears, not only for herself, but for all the other lives lost in a pointless war. It had never struck home that people had _died_, and perhaps now she was paying for that ignorance.

There was no hope for any survival; abandoning it seemed like a good idea. But, would that also be abandoning _them_? Lao and Poppy may not have been the best parents, but they were the only ones she had. And they loved her. The only people in the world who had loved her, and they were gone. Sure, the love was incomplete, but it was there.

She could only cry harder, the loss overpowering her until there was nothing left. No more tears; no more Beifong.

* * *

_Is My Baby Yours? - Sarah Blasko_

Night had never been the reprieve for Toph as it was for everyone else; unsurprising, as she couldn't see it. Even so, she wondered what she had done wrong to deserve such a fate, and yet not be able to have a time for solace.

They had been drunk, still grieving losses too many to count. Katara was not there to comfort them as she once was, her name at the top of the list of those never to return and yet always in the hearts of those who knew them. Sokka sought only his own company, unable to face the stark reminders that they were one step closer to defeat.

It still gave Toph no right, she knew, but she was hurting just as much as Aang. After the first touch, first kiss, she was powerless to stop herself. And here she was, not even a year later, paying for the mistake of one lonely, drunken, grief-stricken night.

She deserved to be alone with the product of her sins as it nuzzled against her breast. It was not the first of many tears, and neither would it be the last, that coated Toph's cheeks. She would do as she always had, though. She would survive on her own. She had to.

* * *

_Between Two Lungs - Florence + The Machine_

Words are a curious thing. Some are meant to be shouted, screamed at the world. A few are destined to be 'bad' words (of course they can't help it, though) while even fewer are 'good'. Some need to go in groups or pairs (chocolate cake, or 'last airbender') while a ridiculously large number are to be forgotten (why, the proclivity of the proletariate to defenestrate is quite perplexing!).

These words never interested Toph. She, like all people, had used, abused, and ignored each of those groups in turn.

It was the _other_ words that intrigued her. The words panted in breathy sighs, whispered into another's ear in the middle of the night. The words that came in little puffs as she leaned towards his lips, pleasure in her chest and an ache in her heart as she mumbles the three little words that has only ever been hers; never given to another. Until now.


End file.
